Succession Planning – An Overview

Succession planning is a process of identifying and developing the right leaders who can replace the senior leaders. It is a very important decision taken by the company which determines the success or failure of a company. It increases the availability of people who can be a replacement for senior employees. This is a very long process and if done in a short term might result in the failure of the company. Whenever the management team has a meeting on succession planning, they consider those candidates who can fit in the criteria. They should match the qualification, creativity, hard work, intelligence, ambition, and experience of the senior employees. All these parameters are important to determine the apt successor.

The whole process of succession strategy can be explained easily. A company has an employee who is retiring. To fill in the position of that employee, another employee is taken into consideration that has the same experience, qualification, knowledge, and dedication towards work. When the other employee retires, this employee fills in his shoes. This is what succession strategy is all about.

This article will give an overview of succession planning. Below are some of the things which should be considered while doing succession planning?

Finding out the position to be filled

The first thing to be considered is the key positions in the company which needs to be filled. These are the critical positions and hence, the company needs the best people to fill it. The succession strategy should be put up by keeping in mind that the successors should fill up the positions for a longer duration. The positions should be filled based on the impact it has on the growth of the company.

Requirements for the position

It is necessary to review the requirements of the position which is to be filled. This can be done by finding out the key positions and key actions which is carried on a day-to-day basis by the people who worked in the senior posts. Then, based on their work a list of requirements can be made. This list will be used to enrol the employees who are suitable as successors for the required position.

Identifying the gaps faced by the organization

During planning out the succession strategy it is necessary to analyse the gaps in the performance and expectation which an organization faces in the present or might face in the future. The next step would be to identify the positions which will cause this gap. Once, the position which creates the gap has been identified, then the necessary steps can be taken to resolve this problem without any hassle.

Plan development

Whatever information is gathered through the previous steps should be written down. This will make it easier to keep in mind all the important facts. Based on this, a plan is eventually developed and the next step is taken in the strategy. This is called succession planning in most cases.

Implementing the strategy

Once you are clear with the plan, the next step is to implement the succession strategy. Before implementing the strategy, it is important to keep in mind that the decision taken by management will affect the whole organization. Either it will reap positive results or negative results based on the capabilities of the successor. If the organization has time, say 2-3 years before carrying out this strategy, then they can train the potential employees so that the successor employees will be able to handle the post in future. Both the things can be considered and then the decision can be taken whether to implement the strategy immediately or later.

As it is clear, this strategy will definitely have many benefits as it helps in the growth of an organization. Some of the major benefits are mentioned below.

It is necessary to carry out the strategic goals to put the right people in the right position at the right time.

It helps in developing and training the potential candidates who can occupy the position after the post becomes vacant.

Providing stable leadership throughout the tenure of the successor in the senior position.

Helping the individuals to realize their goals and give them the necessary training to fulfill their dreams.

It is an opportunity to get corporate knowledge and become efficient at work.

It targets people who have potential to develop and grow faster in the fields of their interest.

Succession planning helps the company to invest in training and development to get better results and increase the profits of the company.

It helps in finding out the right person who has all the qualities to lead the company for several years.

It helps in giving a good shape to the human resource in the company which will help in getting better employees.

The whole organization is connected through a single thread of perpetuity. This strategy helps to pick up professionals for the senior post who can last for a long time and take strong decisions.

Succession planning is comprehensive in nature and doesn’t allow any contingency to thrive during the whole planning process.

This planning retains only those who have the potential in then to live up to the expectations of the company. The people who don’t have that talent are not considered in this planning.

These benefits make the succession planning very effective. The article should have provided an an idea about the succession planning strategy.